Credit Card Now

Consumers have been up in arms over escalating rates on their credit cards. They’ve complained to lenders, researched options on other credit card terms, and sent a loud and clear message to their Congressional representatives.

President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 last May, and, in response to the promise of tighter restrictions, credit card companies scrambled to boost revenues by establishing rate increases prior to the February 2010 date for enacting the legislation. The new law will ban so-called arbitrary rate increases on interest, establishing guidelines for regulating “usury”, and enforcing statutes that determine when an arbitrary rate exceeds the law.

The lender’s immediate increases sparked further responses on the Hill and many legislators are now considering a 16 percent maximum rate for credit cards along with a $15 cap on late payment fees. Consume

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Tags: Credit Card, Rate

With the noble thought that Congress needs to protect consumers from excessively high interest rates, credit card companies and banks may soon have a new law to conform to. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, with the assistance of Reps. John Tierney (D-MA) and Michael Capuano (D-MA) proposed the Renewing America’s Commitment to Consumers Act. The law would seek to “prevent the kind of dramatic rate hikes consumers – even those with strong credit histories and who have paid their balances on time – have been experiencing.” As currently written the bill would:

• Cap credit card interest rates at 16%
• Restrict excessive fees
• Cap contingency fees like late-payment and over-the-limit fees at $15.
• Limit membership or annual fees
• Bill’s provisions will not supersede any state law with a lower usury cap

This recent effort is a free-standing bill that seeks to close loopholes being used by the credit card companies. The Rul

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Tags: Credit Card, Rate

However, we have also included the ‘best of the not so good’ on credit building cards, for those who need access to credit at the beginning of the year, but who have bad debts…

0% Balance Transfer credit cards

Advice: Aim for those with the longest 0% balance transfer term and the lowest balance transfer fee, although the vast majority of cards now charge a fee between 2.8% and 3%. The interest rate on the card once the 0% period is over should be irrelevant, as you should have paid off the balance at this point or moved your remaining debt to another card.

Best buys: Virgin Money have been first-rate in this regard: it has a 16-month balance transfer offer with a fee of 2.98%. Santander are not far behind on 15 months, 3% fee, while Halifax, Nationwide and MBNA have 0% balance transfer offers over 13 months, also with a 3% fee.

Beware: Missing one of your payments.

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Tags: Cards, Cards 2010

Shielding the kids from the realities of consumer finance can set them up for failure later on, so begin early to teach them the risks and rewards of credit card use.

One good method is to get a credit card that is used only for their purchases – and whose payments are made from their budget / allowance.

Begin by doing the research together – look at the different credit card offers, consider the benefits of each, such as interest rate, reward offered, and any annual fees.

Since you will be monitoring this use and hopefully keeping purchases to a minimum, a card with an annual fee in exchange for rewards would be a poor choice. However, show your child the math before rejecting that card.

Compare the cards offered to a person with a high credit score vs. Read more…

Tags: Credit Card, Early

A big thanks to everyone who has tweeted @giftcardrescue and really expanded our fan base online. We’ve received a numerous amount of entries and went from being a small presence with only 230 followers to a online community with over 2,000 followers. We’ve made a lot of great connections with bloggers, twitterers, and others have even taken the step to connect with us on facebook. This will be the last twitter winner of a $50 Visa Gift Card, but you can still win a card just for signing up for our online newsletter here. Look forward and stay tuned as we’ll continue to have a lot more fun promotions in 2010 with even bigger prizes.

Okay so the moment you’ve all been waiting forOur final $50 Visa Gift Card winner is @BjGardella ! Please send us a direct message on twitter for how to claim your prize. Once ag

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Tags: Card, Gift Card